Breathless
by FromWithin
Summary: Hostile alien races, identities controlling the body, and even death...but being buried alive is a new one.
1. Chap 1

Disclaimer: I definitely don't own Stargate.

It had been a good two weeks since she'd been able to take a long hot shower. But the urge to complain just wasn't there for Colonel Samantha Carter. The past two weeks spent on P3X-5274 had been a great find for the scientific community, and to tell you the truth, Sam would have much rather have been in her lab dissecting her new mechanical toys then at home taking a well needed shower.

But under the general's orders, Sam and the rest of SG-1 were to take the weekend off with the assurance that no one would touch her precious "thing-a-ma-bobs", as General Jack O'Neill put it, until she returned.

By the time she was out of the shower and changed into her pajama pants and tank top it was only 10:23, about an hour until her weekly 11:30 TV show. She glided barefoot into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of ice tea, glancing out through her kitchen window to the clear starry night outside.

She made her way through the darkness of the kitchen and into the dimly lit living room. Placing her ice tea on the end table and picking up her book she lowered her delicate frame to the pillowed couch. She pulled her feet up underneath her and opened her book to the slightly bent corner she used to mark her page. All else was forgotten as her imagination took her away to an illusory world that seemed much like her own.

o o o o o o o

The desk was a mess. Papers and old take-out coffee cuts strewn about on top of half a dozen books. A computer monitor sat on top of a stack of pizza boxes with a blacken screen that shouted out to be turned on. A pair of feet housed by a pair of dirty and hole filled socks stuck out from underneath the desk.

With a flicker of the lights and a shower of sparks a stubble faced man emerged from under the desk. He wasn't too largely built or small for that matter. But you could tell that he had been working out for a while with the muscles that shown with his black sleeveless shirt. Although his muscular look made him seem intimidating the glasses set on his face added a hint of softness.

He reached out and turned on the neglected computer monitor. In a flash the screens familiar blackness was gone. The man grabbed a chair and placed it in front of the screen sliding into his new seat. He kicked his feet up onto the desk on top of the mess and leaned back to watch what replaced the blackness. She seemed so innocent sitting there in her pajamas reading a book, slowly drifting off to sleep.

_A/N: I'm taking a little break from my other story; I'm having a bit of trouble writing and figured if I clear my mind I could write better. I hope you like this story. I hope I can keep this one updated better. Reviews are nice so if you want to I'll be waiting._


	2. Chap 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate.**

At first the ringing phone sounded far in the distance, like it was a dream. But as the sound grew closer Sam realized that it wasn't a dream and her phone really was ringing. Without opening her eyes she blindly felt around for the phone. Her hand brushed against something wet and a second later she heard a loud thump as the object went flying to the carpet. She got a hold of the receiver and placed it against her ear.

"Hello?" she asked as squinted against the sunlight as she attempted to open them.

"Hey Sam. It's Daniel, what did you just wake up?" The chipper voice on the other end asked.

"As a matter of fact I just did. Normal people tend to still be asleep at 6:30 on a Saturday morning," she replied glancing at the clock, not sure if she should trust her eyes just yet.

"Yeah, but you can't really count us as normal. But anyways I was just wondering if you wanted to meet up with me for some breakfast. I was thinking that little café on Walnut."

"Sounds great Daniel. Give me about an hour and I'll meet you there."

"Great, see you then."

Sam placed down the phone and looked around the now sun lit living room she had fallen asleep in. She glanced at the floor and sighed as she noticed the loud thump from earlier had been her glass of ice tea from the previous night with its contents now emptied onto the carpet. She stood up and stretched before she went to see Daniel.

x x x x x x x x x

It had been such a beautiful morning that Sam had decided to walk to the café that Daniel had told her about. When she got there he was already seated at a table outside overlooking the now calm streets of Colorado Springs. He already had a cup of coffee placed in front of him and as she approached she realized it was almost empty.

"How long have you been here?" she asked him. He glanced up from his coffee.

"Oh, hey Sam didn't see you coming. I haven't been here long, maybe about ten minutes. Why do you ask?"

"Well, normally by now you'd be through your first cup of coffee."

"Who says this is my first?"

"A woman's intuition. So what brings us here on this fine Saturday morning?" asked Sam pulling out a chair and sitting across from Daniel.

"What, breakfast isn't good enough for you?"

"Breakfast is good enough. But I know you Daniel; I can see it on your face. Something's up, now you can tell me or I can bribe you, maybe with a cranberry muffin?"

"Although the muffin sounds good, I'll just tell you. I mean it's not that big of a deal. I just, well, last night I had this feeling. I thought with a good night's sleep it would go away but I woke up and it was still there. It's like I knew something was wrong. I just had to see you and make sure you were alright."

"Did you check on Teal'c yet? I mean if you think something's going to happen he should know, and the General."

"That's the strange part. This feeling, it's drawing me to you, like something is going to happen to you. And I've learned to take feelings like this seriously."

"Yeah, but Daniel I'm fine. Nothing happened. You have nothing to worry about," Sam said starting to become a bit nervous.

"I can't help worry about it Sam, your one of my best friends and I can't let anything happen to you. Will you promise that you'll be careful until we can figure this out?"

"Yeah, of course," Sam replied as she watched a quick look of relief pass over Daniel's face.

"Well I really should get going. I have an appointment with an archeologist from Arizona who flew here for some help translating a tablet he found. At least let me buy some breakfast before I leave."

"That's fine Daniel, I'm heading off to the gym and I shouldn't eat before I go."

"If you're sure, I'll call you later then, to check up and make sure everything's alright," said Daniel with worry plastered on his face.

"I'll be waiting."

Daniel stood and gave Sam a fake smile. He paid his bill and headed off to his car leaving Sam sitting at the table alone. About two minutes later she stood and began her walk to the gym.

It was a peaceful walk. The sun was shining and it felt good to be outside. As she rounded the corner a man sprinting down the sidewalk slammed right into her sending her flying to the ground dazed.

"Oh my, oh my goodness, I'm so sorry. I should have been more careful. Here, let me help you up," the man said extending his hand. He was a good looking man. He was clean shaven with short neat hair and a well toned body. An intellectual accentuation was added by the glasses on his face, the frames gently placed. Sam could tell he was a business man by the light blue shirt and dark blue tie he wore. But you could easily see that he was laid back by the faded jeans he wore instead of dress pants. His strong hands pulled Sam up.

"Hi, I'm Alex," he said staring into her eyes, hand still clasped around hers.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Alex, I'm Sam," she said staring back. _Wow he has great eyes_, she thought.

"It's a shame we couldn't meet under better circumstances. Listen I'm late for a meeting but maybe we can introduce ourselves better over dinner."

"That sounds nice," she said, eyes still locked. _Those eyes are enough to make any woman melt_.

"How do you feel about French cuisine? I know of the perfect little place on the outskirts of town."

"Sounds perfect."

"Great! I'll pick you up at seven?"

"That would be lovely." Sam and Alex finally released each others hands and exchanged phone numbers and addresses. Alex, who realized he was extremely late for his meeting, bolted down the sidewalk and turned into a nearby building.

The rest of the walk to the gym felt as if Sam was walking on air. The day flew by and all Sam could think about was how wonderful Alex seemed. But she couldn't help it. Her mind kept wondering to Hack and the feelings she had for him. They were strong but the regulations made it impossible for them to be together. With Alex he was there, she could have him and not have to worry. What was she thinking, her and Alex just met, and she doesn't even know if they'll hit it off.

That night Sam had chosen to wear her spaghetti strap red dress and matching heels. She was just about ready when the door rang. _Wow, 6:48, a guy that's early, is that a good thing?_ Sam thought as she looked at her watch. She finished putting her earrings in and pulled the door open. What greeted her was not what she expected.

"Wow Sam, uh…Carter, uh um…Colonel, um….wow," stuttered Jack O'Neill with a pizza box and six pack of beers in tow.

"It's good to see you too Jack."

"Well, if I knew you were getting all dressed up for me I would have worn something a bit nicer," he said glancing down at his own Air Force t-shirt and jeans.

"For your information sir, I have a date tonight," said Sam letting Jack in. A pained expression quickly passed over his face.

"Really? Who is he?" Asked Jack quizzically. If someone was taking Carter out he needed to know everything about him.

"Just a guy I ran into earlier. Well, technically he ran into me," Sam said remembering that mornings events.

"Carter, if you just met him how well do you really know him? I mean is going out with him a good idea?"

"I'm a big girl Jack; I can make my own decisions," said Sam not in the mood for twenty questions.

"I'm just trying to look out for you Carter," replied Jack looking her in the eyes. Sam turned away. The act pained Jack even more. But Sam knew she couldn't look into his eyes because if she did she would start having doubts and never move on with her life.

"So what are you doing here sir?"

"Oh nothing really. I just felt like stopping in to check up on my favorite 2IC's vacation," Jack said plopping himself down on Sam's couch opening up a can of beer and the pizza box.

"Daniel called you," Sam said as a-matter-of-factly.

"Yeah."

"Sir, I'm fine, there's nothing to worry about. I'm perfectly capable…"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, perfectly capable of taking care of yourself. I know I'm just worried about taking car of myself. If Daniel found out I didn't show up…well we'll just say it's off to see the wizard for me. Then I wouldn't be able to enjoy this delicious pizza." Sam knew he was trying to persuade her into staying. Ding dong rang the doorbell.

"Sir, were you planning on staying?" Asked Sam glancing at the General's feet now perched on top her coffee table and remote in his hand.

"How nice of you to ask Carter. I'd love to stay." Sam rolled her eyes as Jack began flipping through stations. She answered the door to a fine looking Alex. The light smell of his aftershave wafted through the open door.

"Wow you look gorgeous," said Alex reaching a hand out from behind him to reveal a dozen red roses. "Beautiful flowers for a beautiful woman." Jack tried laughing inconspicuously but it came out as a rather loud snort.

"They're beautiful Alex. Why don't you come in while I put these in some water." Alex stepped through the threshold and into Sam's house. "Alex this is Jack, Jack this is Alex. I'll be right back." As soon as Sam was gone Alex moved over to the couch and sat down. Jack's eyes remained glued to the television as a few awkward moments passed.

"So," Jack's head turned to acknowledge Alex's voice. "You must be really proud of Sam; any father would die for a daughter like that." Jack's eyes widened and his mouth began to open to say something just as Sam walked in.

"Okay, you ready to go Alex?"

"Absolutely," he replied.

"Jack, there's food and beer in the fridge, help yourself, just try not to clean it out."

"Will do. Have a nice evening kids, I want Sam home by 10." Alex gave him a quizzical look as in saying _why so early_, but Jack shrugged it off and watched as Sam and Alex exited the house.

_Author Note: Hey, thanks to everyone who is reading, I hope you like it. Feel free to review! So until next time..._


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